...how do you show output? I'm trying to figure out something new for science for my 6th grader cuz I'm not satisfied with what we're doing. I'm pretty good at finding books at the library on whatever topic I want, but I feel she needs to do something more than just read. I know "experiments" seem like a natural choice for science, but ugh. They always seem so lame at this age. I can't bring myself to do them unless I feel like it will be a truly useful way of demonstrating something she doesn't already understand. So, then there's narration. That seems incredibly dull after the first few times. And I can just imagine, if it was me, I would not be paying attention to what I was reading as much as I would be trying to figure out what to write. I've thought about having her do flip books (a la Dinah Zike). But then I worry that it's just a variation on narration. I thought the Dinah Zike stuff would appeal to her artsy side, but it's not really very artsy at all. Do any of you have some interesting ways of showing output? TIA
Lapbooks, creative art projects, demonstrations (ask her to demonstrate to you what she learned, or to teach you), drawings, blogging (then she's learning science and computer skills), if she has younger siblings ask her to "teach" them what she learned.
Hmmmmm..... There's so many worksheet things online, that I'm sure you could find portfolio fodder easily. I've always been able to find stuff. Another thing I like is History Scribe stuff - they have some science things also. It's notebooking, but really neat. And very inexpensive if you do the downloads vs. the CD's. I have almost all the sets! I love the scientist bios. The kids can either draw the pic or download one off the internet, then they fill in the info about the scientist, and it's great portfolio stuff....as well as pics of them doing something like an experiment or something....
Typically by discussion (talk as we read together) experiments (I don't like lame ones either, but they don't have to be lame. Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Science and Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method are great books) activities (group activity like building a skin model out of candy and rice krispie treats) projects (like taking pictures of animals from a chosen biome at the local zoo and making a video with the pictures) I linked to a couple of the things we have done. Maybe they will be helpful?
Let's see... *worksheets when it's applicable. *cut/paste when it's applicable (mostly dd, ds hates cut and paste LOL) *We do a shortened form of the scientific method for experiments, with a 'lab report'. Experiments have a control and an experimental group. *Ds made a timeline for prehistoric plants, dd will be doing the same for dinos. *Ds does occasionally have a test on sci topics. I don't think I could get into lapbooks, but I love posters. adding: we are also making nature journals, with lots of plant samples in the pages. I think science is one of those areas that a bit of unschooling works well (at least for us), so it's ok if the proof is in the form of photos rather than written work, kwim?
I have tried to "cram" everything my ds needs in science & ss into what I call special projects. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with all of it but some of the ideas for science are - a magic show for family where he has to explain why the trick works, 3D models for animal cell and plant cell, tracking a hurricane & making his own prediction on where it will go, wind speed and pressure by investigating weather & climate, poster comparing bacteria, viruses and fungi. Things like that. I am also working it into his writing through reports. He needs work on them & he remembers what is in his reports. I'm so stealing the skin model idea from Embassy too. Also ask them what they would like to do to show what they have learned. DS has some pretty good ideas sometimes. He's pretty creative like that. Debbie
Hi try looking up notebooking Its not like lapbooking because you use full pages in a binder or other folder. There are a lot of science notebooking pages out there. Or you can find blank pages for them to input information into. Also you can have lab reports filled out. Copywork is also good. And after studying a particular topic you could make up a multiple choice quiz. Nothing too heavy just light and easy to show they have retained some information
We just started using Match Card Unit Studies. I use the cards as a guideline and make our lessons around each unit. This is so easy to use for different levels since each child can read their own book. We did the oceanography unit and made a salt map of the ocean floor that had to be labeled. It was a fun project that really helped them to understand the different landforms. http://www.kid-friendly-homeschool-curriculum.com/MatchcardScience.html
